Discussion
Welcome all, i thought i'd post some pics of my relatively new toy:
After having a number of years with Mk4 Escort XR3is, and always being "into mercs" while having a few of them as daily drivers, i decided to upgrade and go for something that likes motorways, petrol stations, tunnels, and would be ideal for driving in Europe in the summer. All of these things, the XR3i fell short in some way, and while i enjoyed the battering i gave it down country lanes, i got tired of feeling like i had been to a gig everytime i did more than 40 miles in it.
After having a number of years with Mk4 Escort XR3is, and always being "into mercs" while having a few of them as daily drivers, i decided to upgrade and go for something that likes motorways, petrol stations, tunnels, and would be ideal for driving in Europe in the summer. All of these things, the XR3i fell short in some way, and while i enjoyed the battering i gave it down country lanes, i got tired of feeling like i had been to a gig everytime i did more than 40 miles in it.
Cheers for the replies.
Yes, definitely a step up from the 'scort but i'm no stranger to Teutonic knights, having a few C Class Mercs, E30 BMWs, etc. i come from a family of merc owners, and ive done a lot of varied jobs on them in the past. [retro fitting AMG electric seats and rear electric windows into my last W202 because the interior was hideous and i like a challenge.
This is the first truly powerful car ive owned, the previous being a 1985 900 Turbo-16 Aero which was a beast.
I'm more than happy with it, its an awesome machine, and practically free when you look at how much car you get for your money. less than £4k for something with a 5.0 V8, all the toys and the build quality is nothing to be sniffed at - and no, its not a knacker, its average mileage and in excellent condition, but what do you expect from a car that cost £78k in 1995!
all that its needed is some minor tidying, and a good thorough service [all fluids]
i will be visiting the petrol station on a number of occasions in the near future!
Yes, definitely a step up from the 'scort but i'm no stranger to Teutonic knights, having a few C Class Mercs, E30 BMWs, etc. i come from a family of merc owners, and ive done a lot of varied jobs on them in the past. [retro fitting AMG electric seats and rear electric windows into my last W202 because the interior was hideous and i like a challenge.
This is the first truly powerful car ive owned, the previous being a 1985 900 Turbo-16 Aero which was a beast.
I'm more than happy with it, its an awesome machine, and practically free when you look at how much car you get for your money. less than £4k for something with a 5.0 V8, all the toys and the build quality is nothing to be sniffed at - and no, its not a knacker, its average mileage and in excellent condition, but what do you expect from a car that cost £78k in 1995!
all that its needed is some minor tidying, and a good thorough service [all fluids]
i will be visiting the petrol station on a number of occasions in the near future!
Edited by dbanbery on Friday 12th July 21:35
Geekman said:
I absolutely love these cars, something incredibly understated and classy about them. I'm determined to own one at some point!
Do it. the insurance was less than half it was to insure the Escort with all the bells and whistles you could possibly need, including £150 excess [i'm 29]. the fuel is understandably not amazing because its a 5.0 V8 but i still managed 32mpg on a run down the motorway at 73mph last friday. pretty good considering its 326bhp and an automatic. servicing will cost twice as much as a "normal" car as there is twice the amount of everything [apart from oil and fuel filters] but, its worth it. it uses twice the amount of fuel around town too.provided that you spend your time and bargain hard, you will end up with something you are more than happy with. if you want some buying advice the mercedesclub forum have helped me off with a lot of things while ive been umming and aahing about various candidates.
I did go and see a 50k miler in the same colours, but it was tatty, and the seller wanted £6k which was unrealistic IMHO. i didnt want a low miler, i wanted to be able to drive it without worrying about putting miles on it.
Codswallop, top marks, its a '95. it has all the extras for that year bar the ADS which i deliberately avoided. this is the exact model i wanted, as i prefer the interior and the other prefacelift features.
Looks nice - I prefer the older cars at the moment even though I have a 2000yr r129. We are in a small group of 20-something old SL owners I think, every one I see (and I see a lot in London) are driven by people of advancing years 
Done two euro trips in ours and they are built for sunny evenings in south of France
Done two euro trips in ours and they are built for sunny evenings in south of France
dbanbery said:
Do it. the insurance was less than half it was to insure the Escort with all the bells and whistles you could possibly need, including £150 excess [i'm 29]. the fuel is understandably not amazing because its a 5.0 V8 but i still managed 32mpg on a run down the motorway at 73mph last friday. pretty good considering its 326bhp and an automatic. servicing will cost twice as much as a "normal" car as there is twice the amount of everything [apart from oil and fuel filters] but, its worth it. it uses twice the amount of fuel around town too.
provided that you spend your time and bargain hard, you will end up with something you are more than happy with. if you want some buying advice the mercedesclub forum have helped me off with a lot of things while ive been umming and aahing about various candidates.
I did go and see a 50k miler in the same colours, but it was tatty, and the seller wanted £6k which was unrealistic IMHO. i didnt want a low miler, i wanted to be able to drive it without worrying about putting miles on it.
Codswallop, top marks, its a '95. it has all the extras for that year bar the ADS which i deliberately avoided. this is the exact model i wanted, as i prefer the interior and the other prefacelift features.
Insurance is actually the main problem for me. Surprisingly considering my age, I can get insured on many considerably higher risk cars reasonably cheaply, but for some reason all the companies either refuse to quote or give me a ridiculous quote on any R129, even a 280. Combined with my lack of covered parking and I just don't think it's practical for me to own one at the moment, which is a great shame. Will keep this thread in mind though for when I do start looking at them seriously, and I'll certainly be interested to see how you get along with it.provided that you spend your time and bargain hard, you will end up with something you are more than happy with. if you want some buying advice the mercedesclub forum have helped me off with a lot of things while ive been umming and aahing about various candidates.
I did go and see a 50k miler in the same colours, but it was tatty, and the seller wanted £6k which was unrealistic IMHO. i didnt want a low miler, i wanted to be able to drive it without worrying about putting miles on it.
Codswallop, top marks, its a '95. it has all the extras for that year bar the ADS which i deliberately avoided. this is the exact model i wanted, as i prefer the interior and the other prefacelift features.
jke11y said:
Looks nice - I prefer the older cars at the moment even though I have a 2000yr r129. We are in a small group of 20-something old SL owners I think, every one I see (and I see a lot in London) are driven by people of advancing years
Done two euro trips in ours and they are built for sunny evenings in south of France
^^ You have pretty much got my ideal two car garage jke11y Done two euro trips in ours and they are built for sunny evenings in south of France
Agree with you OP that the pre-facelift cars look better (especially from the rear), though I do like the panoramic hardtop option on the newer cars.
Codswallop said:
^^ You have pretty much got my ideal two car garage jke11y
Agree with you OP that the pre-facelift cars look better (especially from the rear), though I do like the panoramic hardtop option on the newer cars.
yeah the pano roof is an awesome option, you can retro fit it to an early R129 but you need different seals somewhere... theyre about £700 on their own i think.Agree with you OP that the pre-facelift cars look better (especially from the rear), though I do like the panoramic hardtop option on the newer cars.
TBH i have off road parking, but no garage. I was surprised.
Euro trips! were planning on going to the German or Belgian GP in it this year, and making a week of it!
Max M4X WW said:
Love it - reminds me of 90's US films with Jim Carey.
Are the front indicators factory? They look like US ones!
AFAIK they are, there is a detail on the datacard referring to the indicators. i know the earlier ones were fully clear or amber, i put it down to be a component of the 1995 model as ive seen a few with these, and the aftermarket ones are normally clear without the amber flash.Are the front indicators factory? They look like US ones!
I considered a 190E 2.3-16 when i bought this, but i decided i wanted something totally impractical with a removable roof. i have a F20 116d as a daily which is reasonably practical for us.... oh and then there is the V8. LOL.
There is a white one in Ace Ventura isnt there? and a Red one in "another stakeout", and the mrs spotted a black one in "dude wheres my car" the other week too lol.
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